MOUNTAIN MIST TRAIL 50 K, Huntsville Alabama, January 27, 2001

Do you like to run on large rocks, go mountain climbing and caving? Boy, do I have the run for you. The Mountain Mist Trail 50 K is held every January in Monte Sano State Park near Huntsville, Alabama.

Huntsville is a beautiful, fairly sophisticated small city whose claim to fame is the Marshall Space Flight Center, where many components of the International Space Station are currently being built. It’s also a college town with a large population of students most of the year. Running is big here, and the Huntsville Track Club makes sure the calendar is filled with quality events such as Mountain Mist.

Race director Dink Taylor unleashes us to experience his small piece of Hell at 8AM. The weather was 35 degrees and sunny. The course starts out as a typical trail run, with a little bit of up and down and easily traversed trails. We all make good time. At about mile 6 or 7, there is a good elevation loss with semi-technical bits of trail here and there. We descend to a power line area, and run under the lines for a while through dead grass and clay-based mud. Now I see why they make bricks out of this stuff; it holds together well, and has to be scraped off…it will not just wear off of your shoes. At mile 8, we start up the first large ascent. It’s a dandy, but does not give me a clue of what’s to come. At the mile 12 aid station Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” is playing.

Miles 12 through 20 are definitely harder than the first third, and the geology has definitely changed to the rocky side of reality. At one point, we actually run through two short caves.

The last third of the course would have done the Marquis De Sade proud. Rocks on the course are now multiplying. These are not rocks that will end up in your shoe; rather, they are large cantaloupe sized ankle-breakers that can slow you to a crawl. The elevation changes become more severe, culminating to a crescendo at mile 24, where you scale a cliff of a few hundred feet. An honest-to-God CLIFF! After this, my calves started tweaking, but were OK by the next aid station. Next, we started ascending an old jeep trail that was very conducive to proper running. At the top, I realized we would have to cross a deep valley by the name of McCall’s Hollow to get to the finish area. It had fairly severe downhill, much of which was dangerous to run on. The uphill was nasty, of course. The last 1-1/2 miles were kind to us, with dirt-covered trails, and a level grade. I finished with a time of 6:42, and was happy with that result, considering my current fitness level.

The aid stations were well placed, and staffed with helpful, knowledgeable volunteers. I would rate this course much harder (per mile) than your average trail run. The only thing that would have made it tougher would have been nasty weather or well-placed whips & chains. The scenery is beautiful, and you get a finisher’s mug, as well as a cool shirt that any trail runner would love; both the shirt and the mug have a skeleton running on skulls with the motto, “trail runners never die, they just thin out”.

Bad Ben Holmes

Kansas City